Chris Simon has five games remaining on the 25-game suspension he received after the Mar. 8 stick-swinging incident at the Coliseum in which he took a baseball-bat-like swing that landed on Ryan Hollweg’s jaw, but according to the NHL’s peculiar rules, he is allowed to participate in exhibition games.

And as such, Simon, who cannot make his 2007-08 regular-season debut until Oct. 13 in Philadelphia, was in the Islanders’ lineup against the Rangers in last night’s pre-season game at the Coliseum . . . in the lineup against Hollweg, who refused to allow Simon to offer an in-person apology last season, and isn’t anxious to receive one at any time.

“It’s his choice and I respect that,” Simon told The Post before taking a five-minute major and game misconduct for charging Hollweg at 8:11 of the second after the Ranger winger had initiated two previous confrontations. “It wasn’t him who hit me.”

No, it was Simon who hit Hollweg with his stick on Mar. 8, and who in that moment joined a Hockey Public Enemy No. 1 list that most prominently features Todd Bertuzzi and Marty McSorley.

“I said at the time that I was wrong, and I say that now, too,” Simon told The Post before the Rangers’ 5-4 overtime loss. “Everyone knows it was wrong. Not for a second do I believe it was the right way to react.

“I’m not minimizing what happened, and I’m not suggesting that it isn’t still in the back of my mind, but I have to put it in the past so that I can continue with my career. I understand that it’s always going to be something I’m identified with, and I accept that, but I also know that guys I’ve played with throughout my career know that I’m not that person.

“I owe a lot to the Islanders for standing behind me the way they have.”

Simon, who will turn 36 in January, was a plus-17 in 67 games last season while recording 27 points (10-17) and 75 PIM’s. Though he acknowledges he’ll be under a microscope when he returns, Simon says that’s nothing new.

“It’s been that way my whole career, and that’s just the way it is, but I still have to play my game,” the winger said. “I have to be physical, I have to protect my teammates, and I have to play on the edge, while of course never using my stick again like that.”

After receiving his suspension, Simon used an intermediary to send word to the Rangers that he wanted to apologize in person to Hollweg. The request was denied.

“The important thing is that Hollweg wasn’t hurt,” said Simon. “When I watched the tape after and I saw he was OK, everything else was secondary.

“I know I did it, but that’s not me. I hope people get to the point where they understand that.”